The present invention relates to a magnetic refrigeration device.
Magnetic refrigeration devices generally include magnets and magnetocaloric material. The magnets are typically moved in an alternating fashion relative to the magnetocaloric material such that the magnetocaloric material experiences an increasing magnetic field when the magnets move closer, thus experiencing a rise in temperature due to the magnetocaloric effect, and a decreasing magnetic field when the magnets move farther away, resulting in a decrease in temperature. Typically, a heat transfer fluid is passed through the magnetocaloric material to absorb the heat from the magnetocaloric material when the magnetic field increases, and the heat transfer fluid is then directed to a heat exchanger that releases the heat to the atmosphere. Then, the heat transfer fluid is passed through the magnetocaloric material to give up heat to the magnetocaloric material when the magnetic field decreases and the heat transfer fluid is directed to another heat exchanger to remove heat from air being circulated into a cooled space.